Native Americans used the river as transportation route and portage.

The Des Plaines River ( / d ɛ s ˈ p l eɪ n z/) is a river that flows southward for 133 miles (214 km) through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois in the United States Midwest, eventually meeting the Kankakee River west of Channahon to form the Illinois River, a tributary of the Mississippi River. Map of the Des Plaines River drainage basin